Lindsted, Robert: Prophetic Current Events 1984-05 ~ Ashes Of The Red Heifer

Well, I appreciate each of you coming out tonight. I know that your activity schedule here is, is a full one and a busy one. I certainly appreciate the good attendance at each of the meetings. The story is told about two hunters. Maybe I should really say one hunter and one fellow who wanted to be a hunter. And the man who was skilled at hunting said, all right, I'll tell you what, I'm going to give you a break. I'm going to teach you the fine art of hunting. You be ready tomorrow morning around five thirty, and I'll come by, and we'll go hunting, and I'll show you how to hunt. And so, sure enough, around five thirty, well, he came by this young fellow's door, he knocked on the door, and of course the young man was still asleep. And he waited just a minute as the young man got ready to go hunting. He got in his clothes, and they went out, and then they went down into by the lake, and they laid down on their stomachs, and they waited for about two and a half hours. And finally, after two and a half hours, in the sky, breaking the silence of that morning, is one lone duck. The experienced hunter nudged the young man. He says, all right, you watch this. He took his rifle, he aimed it toward the duck, and his bullet shattered the silence of the morning. And serenely along flew that single duck. Now the experienced hunter nudged the young man again. He said, son, I want you to know you're witnessing a real miracle. There flies one dead duck. Well, tonight we want to look at a real miracle. We want to see the hand of God in terms of current events and Bible prophecy. And so tonight we're going to be looking at the story called The Ashes of the Red Heifer. Now, I've already warned you about the titles to my message. Sometimes people never figure them out. My wife, who is not here, and so I can pick on her a little bit, she is very critical of my sermons, but when I'm all done tonight, you just see if really we didn't talk about a red heifer, and we really didn't talk about ashes. Tomorrow night, Lord willing, if the Lord will tarry, we will be looking at a story concerning the last religious system, the last political system, and the last economic system. Do you know that God's word, his more sure word of prophecy, is so precise that he draws for us a wonderful picture of the last religious system? Say, just between me and you, I think it's here. Some of you may have been reading some information called the New Age Movement. I want you to know that it fits all the earmarks. I'll let you be the judge tomorrow night. Next, it describes the last political system, and we will be looking at the Wall Street Journal, US News, and World Report, Time Magazine, and again, I'll let you draw a conclusion. And then we will be looking at the last economic system, and of course we will be looking at each of these things through God's holy word, a more sure word of prophecy. I recognize that last night, as well as tonight, many of the details we will not be able to get into, and so again, I invite you to sign up for the books. There's a sign up sheet on the back table, and if you will sign your name, those books will be sent to you free, and I'll try to send those out Monday, if the Lord tarries. I'd like for you to take your Bible tonight and turn with me to several portions of scripture, the first one being in Numbers chapter nineteen and verse one. The book of Numbers, chapter nineteen and verse one. As you're turning to that, I want to remind you, for those that may be new, of several things that we have been looking at as we look at current events in the light of Bible prophecy. We began our series by showing that really God is in control. We, we noticed that, that throughout the course of God's holy word, it is the only world religion, and I use that word now in quote marks, it is the only world religion that has the element of prophecy in it. For if you go to a college campus, you will find religion after religion vying for the, for the minds and for the affections of people, but there is none that would dare have prophecy. Why? Well, the answer is simply this, it is too risky. For someone to say, all right, here is what will happen in the last days, and for that to be true is an incredible thing. I know that Gene Dixon and other people make their living predicting the future, but it is also interesting that Gene Dixon is right less than ten percent of the time. Say, do you know what they did to false prophets in the Old Testament? They killed them. But remember, we read in God's word that we have a more sure word of prophecy. His promise is this, more sure than tomorrow morning, because he said, heaven and earth, they will pass away, but my word or my prophecy will not pass away. And I want you to know that God's very reputation is on the line with his word. It's a more sure word, and it's prophetic. We saw that at the time of its writing, over one fifth of the book that you hold on your lap was prophetic in nature. Much of it has already been fulfilled. But I also believe that it's possible to say that if you have been alive in the last several years, and all of you have, if you have been alive in the last several years, you have seen more of the Bible fulfilled than any other people. We began to look at the fact that when Christ came the first time, he fulfilled a hundred and nine prophecies concerning the Bible. Detailed things about where he would be born, how he would die, the people surrounding him as he died, his bones, his clothes. That's no accident. We saw that the odds of that happening would be if, if it was just fifty fifty, and I hope you realize it wasn't fifty fifty. I, I had a discussion with someone today about that. It's not fifty fifty. There was more than two cities. There's more than two ways to die. There's more than two things they could have done with those clothes. But if it was fifty fifty, and if you took a hundred billion galaxies with a hundred billion stars and put five point two billion people on every star and gave them each a quarter, the odds say that you wouldn't get a hundred accidents in a row. But if you believe what occurred in the first coming of Jesus Christ was an accident, you just believe that we hit those kind of odds. For as long as I've been studying mathematics, I just don't have that kind of faith. But I'll tell you what I do believe. I believe that there's an intelligent God who's in absolute control. And just as one hundred and nine prophecies came and were fulfilled at his first coming, I want you to know that when Christ comes the second time, two hundred and twenty four, or more than two times that number, will be fulfilled. Then we begin to look at the nation of Israel. We saw that God's word, as much as 2500 years ago, said that in the last days it would come alive again, it would be like a fig tree. It would shoot forward in a political reality, but it would not have spiritual reality. The Jews still would not come to Christ in that time. You and I are the people that have seen that. May nineteen forty eight, even at the testimony, even at the words of other Jewish people, among them the former Prime Minister of Rabin, he said, we fulfill that. It is us. We are the valley of dry bones that were scattered and dead, and it looked like there was no possibility of life. And then God's miracle hand upon the nation of Israel has brought them together. And now, thirty five years old, that country stands there as a fulfillment of God's holy word. If you were to tell people fifty years ago, Israel will be a nation again, they would have laughed at you. But it's here, and I want to remind you that night after night it dominates the news. Next, the Bible said this, that in the last days you would find a powerful country. It would be located north of Jerusalem. It would be called Rosh, R-O-S-H. It would have two capitals, Meshech or Moscow, Tebo or Tobolsk. It would be bordered by a barren land on one side, Joel chapter two verse twenty, and two seas on the other. Is there such a land? If you will take out your Encyclopedia Britannica, you will find out that there is one country that is directly north of Jerusalem, bordered by Siberia and two seas. It's name is Rosh Ha. And Russian history says we have two capitals, a political capital called Moscow, an industrial capital called Tobolsk, and they are easy to identify. God's more sure word of prophecy. To Daniel, to the prophet Daniel, he says, Daniel, listen, take the book, shut it up, and seed it to the time of the end, because I want you to know that when the end comes, you will see a great advance in travel, and you will see technology literally explode. You will see incredible things happen. And again, I want to remind you that just as fifty years ago, no one thought Israel would be around, and eighty years ago, no one thought Russia would be a dominant power. Today, there are technological advancements that are incredible to people that, in the last twenty five years, incredible things have happened. We are now able to send a person into space. We are now able to instantly take a picture anywhere in the world and transmit it to another part of the world. We are able to record instantaneously pictures and, and play them back. And folks, it's just beginning. We send voices over light beams. On a small computer chip, less than a third of the size of your fingernail, we can now put a whole computer. And again, I tell you, that's just the beginning. He said, Daniel, you'll know when the end comes, technology will literally explode. Travel will increase. And we pointed out that really in the last two weeks, we've had people in space, and they traveled at the rate of seventeen thousand miles an hour. Last night, we again looked at God's holy word. God's word said, all right, I'm going to take and I'm going to give Israel a blessing in the subterranean. Asher, you will be blessed so great that the royal powers of the world will come down to take a spoil. You will have something in your little small area that huge nations will want. I will put it in the foot of Asher. I will put it on the head of Joseph, in the crown of Manasseh. It will be deep in the earth. It will be in the subterranean. I'll bless you from the heavens above. I'll bless you in the subterranean. Let Asher be blessed of his brothers, and let him dip his foot in oil. And really, until two or three years ago, most people would not dare say that really means petroleum. But several years ago, a man began to drill a well, and it just happened to be in the foot of Asher, and it just happens to be the largest oil well in Israel, and it just happens to be what may be the source of all of the oil in the Middle East area. And we're either flipping coins, or the book that you hold in your lap is God's eternal holy word. Isn't it wonderful to be a Christian? Isn't it wonderful to be alive in this day and time, when the most advanced scientific theories simply boil down and can only confirm the word of God. Tonight, we want to look at another story involving current events in Bible prophecy. Now, last night, bless your hearts, you were so patient with me. I went through all kinds of diagrams. Some of you couldn't see them, the rest of you couldn't hear me, and you sat there patiently. If I had a blue ribbon, I'd give it to you. Tonight, you notice we don't have a, a view graph. We simply are going to take God's word. And I want to do three things. First of all, I want to look at some scripture, and I remember one time when I was doing consulting for an engineering firm, I saw a cartoon on the wall, and I'm attracted to cartoons. Anyway, I went over there, and in the background was the Leaning Tower of Pisa, and in the foreground was a, was a contractor, and he said to another fellow, he says, I skimped a little bit on the foundation, but no one will ever know the difference. Well, tonight we need to build a good foundation. We want to look at the scripture, and for a few minutes you're going to say, what in the world has this got to do with the price of, of peaches in China? And then hopefully we're going to look at current events, and you'll begin to see what peaches in China have got to do with the whole thing. And then we want to look at the application, because again, tonight I want to emphasize to you more than anything else, I just don't want to present facts. If when we leave after being together for these several days, if it does not change our life, then we've wasted our time. But I pray God change my life. And God, don't let me talk to people that have itching ears. But I pray that at least one person in this audience will be so honest that if they're not saved tonight, they'll come to Christ. I don't know who you are. Most people won't know who you are, but God knows who you are. And I like to think that maybe tonight there's at least one person in this crowd, and you've been looking for the answer to everlasting life. And I pray more than anything else, tonight you'll receive him. And then if I'm also honest, maybe there's someone in the crowd, and and you can look at your life and you can say, you know what? If Christ were to come tonight, I would dread to stand in front of him at the judgment seat of Christ. And I pray this might be a night of reckoning for those that are believers as well. The ashes of the red heifer. In the book of Numbers, chapter nineteen, let's begin our reading in verse one. And the Lord spoke unto Moses and unto Aaron, saying, This is the ordinance of the law which the Lord hath commanded, saying, Speak unto the children of Israel that they bring thee a red heifer without spot, wherein is no blemish, and upon which never came yoke. And ye shall give it to Eleazar the priest, that he may bring it forth outside the camp, and one shall slay it before his face. And Eleazar the priest shall take of its blood with his finger, and sprinkle of its blood directly before the tabernacle of the congregation seven times. And one shall burn the heifer in his sight, its skin, its flesh, its blood with its dung shall he burn. Skipping now down to verse nine. And a man who is clean shall gather up the ashes of the heifer and lay them up outside the camp in a clean place, and it shall be kept for the congregation of the children of Israel. For a water of separation is the purification for sin. And he who gathers the ashes of the heifer shall wash his clothes and be unclean until evening, and it shall be unto the children of Israel and unto the stranger that sojourneth among them for a statute forever. He who toucheth the dead body of any man shall be unclean seven days. He shall purify himself with it on the third day, and on the seventh day he shall be clean. But if he purify not himself the third day, then the seventh day he shall not be clean. Then I want you to skip now down to verse twenty. But of the man who shall be unclean and shall not purify himself, that soul shall be cut off from among the congregation, because he hath defiled the sanctuary of the Lord, the water of separation hath not been sprinkled upon him, he is unclean. And it shall be a perpetual statute unto them that he who sprinkleth the water of separation shall wash his clothes, and he who toucheth the water of separation shall be unclean until evening. And I want you to take in your Bible and turn to Second Corinthians chapter five. Second Corinthians chapter five, just for one verse, and verse twenty one. Two Corinthians chapter five verse twenty one, For he has made him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might be made the righteousness of Christ. That is the key verse in our lesson tonight. For he hath made him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might be made the righteousness of God in him. Hebrews chapter ten and verse ten. The book of Hebrews, chapter ten, beginning in verse ten. By which will we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. And every priest standeth daily ministering and offering often the same sacrifices which can never take away sins. But this man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sin forever, sat down on the right hand of God. Chapter nine, verse eleven. Hebrews chapter nine, verse eleven. But Christ being come and high priest of things to come by a greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this building, neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us. For if the blood of bulls and of goats and the ashes of an heifer, sprinkling the unclean, sanctify to the purifying of the flesh, how much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God. Now, how many times have you read in Hebrews that verse, for it's the blood of bulls and of goats and the ashes of a heifer, and you said, one of these times I'm going to go back and I'm going to study something about the ashes of a heifer. Well, tonight's that night that we're going to go back and we're going to be looking at that. One final passage, Hebrews chapter thirteen, The book of Hebrews again, chapter thirteen and verse twelve. Wherefore, Jesus also, that he might sanctify the people with his own blood, suffered outside the gate. Let us go forth therefore unto him outside the camp, bearing his reproach. I'm sure that you see that in the verses that we've read in Hebrews, we are seeing that if you were to take and look at the Old Testament sacrifices, those sacrifices were not sufficient to put away sin. All they could do is cover or pacify for a period of time. But the whole point of the Old Testament is to have its fulfillment in Christ. The Old Testament is God's picture book. Now, I like pictures, and it's important for us to understand some things about pictures, but remember, the point of a picture is always to point to the real object. If tonight I were to hold up, and I brought this, I'm supposed to give it to someone tonight, if I were to hold this up and if I were to tell you this is my family, someone would probably say, no, it's not. I, I can, I can just read Harry's mind, and he said, no, it's not. And I'd say, now wait a minute. Yes, it is. And he'd say, no, it's not. Now, is he right? He's absolutely right. This is a picture of my family, but it's not my family. You see, in the Old Testament, those sacrifices did not put away sin, they pictured Christ, and Christ can put away sin. Tonight, would you examine what are you counting on for everlasting life? And if it's anything less than the personal work of Jesus Christ on the cross and his resurrection, you're not saved. Now, I want to make that very clear because I recently read a survey, which in America, fifty percent of the people say they're born again. And of the fifty percent that say they're born again, most of them think they're saved because they're keeping the law. The second reason is because they've been baptized, and I want you to know the Bible will not say there's salvation in either one of those. I want to be just as clear as I can. A person who has not come to Christ is not saved. I don't care what kind of pedigree you've got. But I'll tell you what, you don't have to join a church, and you don't have to pay tithe, and you don't have to do all that stuff if you just simply accept Christ. You know what the Bible says? He that hath the Son hath life, and you've got it all. Oh, listen, the gospel is beautiful and simple. I think today people are turned off because they're afraid that when you come into a building, they're going to be after your back pocket. You know what I mean? I'm so glad we don't take up a collection. Listen, Christ is in the business of giving people everlasting life, and he doesn't want what's in your back pocket. First of all, he wants to put something in your life, and when he's got you, he's got all of you. The back pocket's not near as important as what Christ wants to give you. The story that we read in Numbers is a very unusual one for several reasons. You see, one of the reasons that it's unusual is because most of the, the things concerning the Old Testament sacrifices are recorded in the book of Leviticus, or maybe in the book of Exodus, but it's very unusual that in the book of Numbers, a book that deals with wanderings, it would have a sacrifice. It's also unusual because it is a sacrifice that is not mentioned in other places in the Word of God, except for in the New Testament. It is interesting because there are not many sacrifices that has the way to do a sacrifice is only a female animal. Some sacrifices could be either one. Many of them had to be a male, but this one had to be a female. It is also unusual because most other sacrifices, the color of the sacrifice doesn't matter. But did you notice this one said it must be a certain color? It is also unusual because the ashes of this sacrifice are kept as a memorial or a remembrance of a finished sacrifice. It says this, that it is to be a perpetual statute. Ideally, at least, it was to be done one time, and it was to continue on. It is also unusual because it was one of the few sacrifices that was done outside the camp instead of on the altar. Now, when you begin to see all of these unusual things, I hope it makes you say, I wonder why God gave such unusual directions for the sacrifice. Well, I was hoping someone would ask that question, and so let's look at some of the reasons for it. One of the things that I think is very beautiful is because it is a female sacrifice. Remember, we have already seen that God calls Israel his son, his firstborn son. And I think it is interesting that if you go to the house of Israel, and if you were to go to the synagogue, it is always referred to in masculine gender. It is male. But as you come to the New Testament, the church is always referred to as female. And I think the picture of a female sacrifice is most fitting. It is interesting because in Numbers it said it must be red in color. There are several reasons for this. First of all, a totally red heifer, and by the way, it could not have white spot on it. If it had one white hair or one black hair, it was eliminated. It had to be absolutely red. I think it would meant that it was a very rare one. It was hard to find a totally red heifer. But I think as well, it's a picture of this fact, that Christ was not only rare, but as well, when Christ came, he had to shed his precious blood. I don't mind telling you that I get very alarmed when I pe- see people that say, well, I believe in the teachings of Christ. I believe in the works of Christ. Listen, First Corinthians chapter fifteen gives us the gospel, and the gospel has to do with his blood is shed, and that he rose again, according to the scripture. And so I think the red speaks of that. And then it says this, that that red heifer could have no spot, there was no blemish that could be on it. Now, I don't know, I may make a few enemies, but nonetheless, I've got to be faithful to God's word. I think that is a perfect picture of the Lord Jesus Christ. For you see, as you come to the Bible, you will find this out. Luke chapter one and verse thirty five, the angel says to Mary, the holy thing in you. Now, do you call something holy if it has sin? The answer is no. In other words, Christ was unique because he was conceived without sin. Now, I grew up in a family, and I'm the black sheep of the family. I have a, a sister, and I have three brothers, and they were so good that every once in a while I wondered, maybe they're perfect. Now, everyone was sure in the family that I wasn't, but we had doubts on some of the others. At least mom did. But I was her brother, and I knew better. But it could be said of Christ, the holy thing in you, and that would imply this, he was not conceived in sin. He had to be virgin born. Next, it is interesting that the verse we read in Second Corinthians chapter five verse twenty one, it says this, he knew no sin. You know what that says? Sin did not enter into his mind. Can you say that even over a twenty four hour period? I can't. If I'm honest with you, I cannot go a whole day without First John chapter one verse nine. But I want you to know that in the mind of Christ, never did sin enter into it. He knew no sin. By the way, the Apostle Paul was the human instrument that wrote that, and he was the intellect of the disciples, wasn't he? He examines the mind. He says, the mind, there's no sin. And then it is also interesting that in First John chapter three, it says this: In him is no sin. John looked at the motive. John was that disciple that leaned on his breast and perhaps knew him best. And John said, as I look at his motive, there was no sin in his motive. Can you say that? I can't. But you see, Christ was so perfect that it could be said, in him is no sin. Next, First Peter chapter two, a tremendous verse. It says this, he did no sin. Say, guess what disciple wrote that? Peter. You know why I like Peter? Peter had it in high gear all the time. And Peter, he takes a different perspective. Paul looked at the mind. John looked at the motive. Peter looks at the action, and Peter says there's no action that ever displayed sin. And Hebrews, whoever the writer, chapter four, verse fifteen says he is without sin, he was foreign to sin. You want to know why I think that's so important? Because, you see, the Bible says the wages of sin is death. If he would have had one sin or the possibility of one sin, when he died on the cross, he died for his own sin, but he was sinless. He had no spot. Therefore, when he died on the cross, he died for me, and he died for you. Oh, listen. If I were you, I'd say amen. That's thrilling. There's where we have the source of our salvation, and this sacrifice could have no spot. It was a picture of the fact that when Christ came, there would be no sin. Next, I think it's important for you to know this. It says, upon which never came a yoke. Now, why do you use a yoke with an animal? The reason you use a yoke with an animal is they have a wild nature, don't they? When we were growing up, my grandfather had a farm in, in Arkansas, and one of the things that we like to do as kids, we'd go to his farm and, and we'd play rodeo. And Grandpa would always say, after you kids leave, he says, these horses are no good for plowing. And so Grandpa designed a special yoke to put on those two horses. You try to put a yoke on a horse, they they they don't like it. Now, an oxen, I guess, will put up with it. I I don't know for sure, but I I think they do. But a horse doesn't like it, but he designed a whole special yoke just for those horses because we'd play rodeo with them. We'd jump fences and we'd do all kinds of things, and and uh the the horses kind of like that workout, and they have a yoke. But you see, no yoke could come on this animal because this animal did not have a wild nature. Again, I want to remind you what is said of the Lord Jesus. He says, lo, I come to do thy will. In the volume of the book it is written of me, I delight to do thy will, O God. Isn't that wonderful? Listen, the only man who could have had a reputation took it upon himself not to have a reputation. He did the will of his father. He had no wild nature. The sacrifice was done outside the camp. We read in Hebrews chapter thirteen, verse thirteen that he suffered where? He suffered outside the camp. Say, are you beginning to get the picture that of all the sacrifices in the whole Bible, this one may be the most exact picture of Christ? Let me just tell you, I believe that it really is the most exact picture of Christ and his atonement on the cross of any sacrifice. It is interesting that it was outside the camp, the place of uncleanness where the lepers dwelt. It was outside the camp where Christ was numbered with the transgressors, and this sacrifice had to be done outside the horse gate, or sometimes it's called the Damascus gate, and it is interesting that as you go outside the Damascus gate, you go right to a place called Mount Calvary or Golgotha, the place of the skull. And I am convinced that when Christ was crucified, he was crucified outside the gate, and he was crucified at Golgotha, and he went right out the horse gate, or the Damascus gate, as it's called today, exactly the same gate that the red heifer was led out of and sacrificed. For the sake of time tonight, we will not look at all the things such as the significance of the wood and the significance of the hyssop and so on, but I invite you to do that on your own. What I would like to do is to begin to show you that there are some other things that are most interesting about this, and among this is the fact that the way they would do the sacrifice is they would take that animal, the red heifer, and they would take his dung, his manure, and they would mix it with clay, and they would build a pot called a kaleil. And this kaleil then would be brought with the animal outside the gate, and they would burn the animal totally. They would take those ashes, they would put them into the kaleil or the pot, and now those ashes would be the ashes that they would take, just a pinch of it, and put it into a basin of water, and that water then would be used to, to ceremoniously, not in reality, but ceremoniously, clean anyone who had touched something dead. Or a leper who was pronounced clean would have that water taken by a, a priest and thrown on him. And it is also interesting that when a person who had touched something dead was taken outside the camp, and ceremoniously they took water and they threw it on him with a pinch of that ash, now that unclean person could walk back into the city, but the one who had performed the throwing of water, the priest, had to remain outside the camp, he was unclean, until evening. See the picture? Oh, listen. Do you know that on the cross, when Christ died for my sin, he took my load of sin, my load of sin was laid on him. That's, that's part of the miracle. But the rest of the miracle is that God gave to me his righteousness. And he said, Rob Lind said, you're fit for heaven. Now, I know you look at me tonight and you say, oh, maybe he made a mistake. Well, I'll tell you what, the reason why I'm on my way to heaven is not because I'm good, but because of Jesus Christ. Oh, listen, he took my sin, and God gave me his righteousness, just like in that Old Testament picture. The unclean one came out, and he was sprinkled with that water, and he walked in, he was clean. But the priest who was clean had to remain outside, bearing the uncleanness of that individual. What a picture it is of Christ. Now, according to Jewish history, and I, and I want you to be sure that I'm telling you according to Jewish history, some sources say nine, some say seven. I'm not trying to decide between seven and nine. I'm going to use the number seven. They say that between Numbers nineteen and seventy AD, there were seven times when this sacrifice was done. For after several hundred years, all of the ash in that kolio was used up. And so they looked for another red heifer. They found that red heifer. They take his dung, they make another pot, and now they march outside the horse gate. And outside the horse gate, they now burn the second red heifer and the first kolio, the first pot, which contains some of the ash of the first red heifer. They scrape up all of that ash and put it into the second pot, so in that second pot, there's some of the first red heifer and some of the second red heifer. Are you with me? All right. And after several hundred years, they have to do it again, but now in the seventh one, if there were seven instead of nine, if in the seventh one, there is still some ash of the first red heifer, according to Jewish history, in that seventh kolio. Now, the thing that is interesting is that just days before Roman, the the Roman Empire and Titus came marching through Jerusalem to tear down the temple and to tear down the walls, they had just completed the seventh or the ninth, I'm going to use the w- the seventh again, the seventh sacrifice. And the Jews realizing that that the temple would probably be destroyed, Jerusalem would be, would be torn down, they took that calile. They began to march through the wilderness with it on the way, I believe, to Masata. And remember that on the way to Masata, they hide in Qumran those scrolls that we have found. And in another cave, I believe they hide this pot, this calile containing those ashes. Well, there are several other pictures. I'm, and I tell you one other picture, and then we'll, we'll get to current events very quick and application very quick. I, I just want to remind you of the price. Do you remember what it says in the Old Testament, in Zechariah chapter eleven and verse twelve? And by the way, remember I told you that when Mr. Rabin was here, I asked Mr. Rabin three questions. One of them was with Ezekiel thirty seven. Two of them, two of them were in the book of Zechariah. I said, Mr. Rabin, in Zechariah chapter eleven, Zechariah crowns the priest Joshua with a crown. And Joshua essentially says, wait, I'm the priest, but I'm not priest and king. And then I said, later, Zechariah gets up and he walks around and says, all right, bid on me. If I were a slave, what would you bid for me? And he says, I know the price would be thirty pieces of silver. I said, Mr. Rabin, doesn't it seem unusual to you that Joshua is really Jesus? And when Jesus came, he was both priest and king? And when he was sold, he was sold for thirty pieces of silver. He said, Rob, the trouble with you is you're a fundamentalist. Now, I've been called worse things. He says, you are looking for Messiah to come again, and he says, I'm looking for him the first time. And he's exactly right. But I'll tell you what, it is interesting that Christ is sold for thirty pieces of silver. Now, the reason I point this out is because if you begin to examine in the Old Testament, you will find this, that when a man was sold, he was sold for fifty pieces of silver. But when a woman was sold, ladies, I want you to know that this is, this is in the Bible, it's not me. When a woman was sold, she was sold for thirty pieces of silver. And another price of thirty pieces of silver was paid for a gored slave. If you had a slave, a male slave, and it was gored to where it could never work again, you were paid thirty pieces of silver. Oh, do you see the picture? You see, when Christ died, he was paying the redemption price for a bride, the church. And furthermore, he was a slave. He was a slave to the will of God. And he would be gored to where he would never work again. On the cross, the work that saves is done. He said, it's finished. And that was not the, the, the phrase, I give up. It was like the, the, the Olympians, and they come to the finish line, and they burst across it, and it says, I win. And on the cross he said, I win! He won the church. That's what he did. Oh, listen, I, I look at the, the things that are involved in this sacrifice. It's tremendous. It is a picture, a clear picture of who Christ is. But isn't it amazing that as we talk tonight, the Jews reject Jesus Christ as the real savior of the world? But I think it is also important for us not only to look at the biblical account of it, but remember our purpose in this series is to look at current events in the light of Bible prophecy. And so I want to tell you that, that several years ago, they began to look in some of the caves in between Jerusalem and Masada. And among the things they found, they call them the Dead Sea Scrolls. And in a part of the Dead Sea Scrolls called the Copper Scroll, I want to read to you a little thing that was written. It says this: On the way from Jericho to Sakesh, by the river Waka, in the tomb of Zadok the priest, which is a cave that has two openings. On the opening on the side by the north, the view toward the east, dig two and a half cubits under the plaster, and there will be found the colio, and under it one book. It goes on to say that in addition to this Kalio, there will be a book just like the one you're reading, and there will be another book that will tell sixty seven other things that will be found in the hillside and in caves around there. Now, I'm sure that you're aware that we, we look at the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls as an amazing discovery. But one of the things that has been overlooked is this particular part of the Dead Sea Scrolls. Recently, when we were in Israel, we met with a man whose name is Jones, and Jones showed us a copy of that copper scroll, Dead Sea Scrolls. Phrase by phrase, he showed us that the Hebrew and our guide, who is a Jew and who does not believe that that Jesus is Christ, and who poo-pooed the whole thing of the red heifer ashes, sat there and began to read that scroll with us. And he says, that's exactly what it says. And then when it comes to the end of that, it draws a picture of the cave with the two openings. It also says that there will be a dry riverbed called a Wadi Kapah right here. And then it went on to describe the plaster floor, and that Jewish guide who dismissed the whole thing as an accident after he read that, and then we walked up that cave that some of you saw on the slides this morning, and we went in there and he saw a plaster floor. He said, I can't believe it. Four times I've communicated with him in the last nine months. Every time his letter is this, give me more information on the red heifer. The next day, as we went through Jerusalem into the temple area, five times he said, when you find those ashes. I said, Paul, I thought you didn't believe that we were going to find them. He said, well, if they find those ashes, we'll remove that sign. If they find those ashes, we'll do this different. If they find those ashes, here's what we can do. Listen, this is an incredible thing. For where they found that copper scroll, three hundred yards away, there is a cave, and it is the only cave in between Jericho and Saqesh that has two openings. Those two openings just happen to open exactly as that ancient scroll said they would. Is this an accident? And this cave, even though it had been dug before, they went in and began to dig down, and as they dug down, sure enough, they found a plaster floor. What in the world is a plaster floor doing in a cave? In over one hundred caves that have been dug in that area, none of them have a plaster floor, only this one. And as they begin to analyze that plaster, it's interesting because there is also salt embedded in it. And it, and you see the ancient tradition is this, that in the tombs of the priests and the prophets, they bury them in a layer of salt because salt was to preserve and token their words and their works. Now remember, it said it would be the, the cave, the tomb of Zadok the priest. As they continued to dig down into that cave, they found pottery that dates right back to the time of Solomon, and guess who the priest was at the time of Solomon? Zadok. Isn't that amazing? The world was so jealous about the whole thing that they sent people over there, and they filmed a Hollywood movie called The Raiders of the Lost Ark. They poked fun at a man named Indiana Jones, and at Christians who really believe that Christ might come back. That's all right, let them poke fun, because I'll tell you what, I believe that, that even the nation of Israel knows that, that what is going on there may be one of the most significant things in terms of modern Jewish history. Now, why, you ask, why is this thing so important? Well, there are several reasons. First of all, I want to remind you that the Muslim Bible, called the Quran, its first book is called Parah, P-A-R-A-H, and literally translated, it's the calf. And it says this, whoever finds the ashes will rule the world. You think it's important to those that are Muslims? Sure is. All right, why is it important to those that are Jews? Back home in our assembly, we have a girl, I should say a lady, who works for a Jewish family. She's a housemaid. I called her and I said, Sandy, I want you to visit with, and I named her boss, who is, who is a friend of mine, acquaintance of mine, anyway. So Sandy came over and, and, and I showed her this scripture, and I told her briefly some of the things about it, and so she went back and she asked her boss, she said, Mister, and named him. What is the importance of finding the ashes of the red heifer? A man who is old and ill, he stood up out of his chair and he says, how in the world do you know about that? She said, it's in my Bible too. And for the next four hours, he told her the significance of finding those ashes. He said, Sandy, when they find those ashes, that day I will board the plane, I will go back to Israel. For, he says, those ashes will call back every real Jew. He says, you see, until they find those ashes, he says, we cannot sacrifice. For until they find those ashes, we have no Sanhedrin, and we cannot purify the priesthood. Our priests, he says, know how to do every single sacrifice. They practice them. They're ready to sacrifice, but until they are purified, they cannot do them. Listen, right now there is a dig, and I won't take the time tonight to to give you some of the information, but the thing that is thrilling is the Department of Antiquity, the chief geologist has been there, and he says this, he says, this is the cave described in the scroll. One of the rabbis, Rabbi Shalom Goren, says, this is the cave where those ashes have been buried, based on the writings of the scroll. Now, just between me and you, they're looking for ashes, and I'm looking for Christ. Because I'll tell you something. I read in my Bible that in the middle of the tribulation, the Antichrist will come, and he will stop the sacrifice. But before you can stop the sacrifice, you got to start the sacrifice. And they can't start the sacrifice until they can purify the priesthood, and they can't purify the priesthood until they find the ashes. And just between me and you, I don't think they have to find the ashes while the church is here. But I'll tell you this, I believe God is working a tremendous miracle in the nation of Israel. And I see the Department of Antiquity, I see, I see rabbis excited about the fact we may have at our fingertips this koil, and it contains those ashes. I said, listen, if all you want is ashes, we'll round up a red heifer, we'll bring it over there, and we'll burn it outside the gate and get the show on the road. They said, haven't you? It is to be a perpetual statute. We must have that coliseal. So for four years, those people have been digging. On one occasion, as they dug down, they picked up one rock, and when they picked it up, sixteen rocks popped up. They set it down and, and they all fell down just like dominoes. They took movies of it. They thought, this is it. They dug down, nothing there. But in the course of their digging, they now have found between these two caves a passageway, and in that passageway they have now, and I won't go into all the details, they've now been able to identify as exactly the tomb of Zadok the priest. This fall, they plan to go back, continue that dig in the other cave, and they think this may be the time when the ashes will be found. I just want you to know that if an unbelieving nation will look for those ashes, why shouldn't we be looking for Christ? Oh, listen, we've seen Israel come up. We've seen Russia come to the forefront. We've seen technology explode. We've seen travel increase. We've seen God bless Israel in the subterranean, and he said, I will do it in the last days, and now we see that he's preparing Israel so they will begin a sacrifice again. And there's nothing that they need to sacrifice until after the church is gone, until God delivers them from Russia, and that doesn't occur until the tribulation period of time. Oh, I think we're close to when Christ will come. Are you ready? Tonight I want to close with a story about an old one-room schoolhouse. In an old one-room schoolhouse, they they had a a lady teacher, bless her heart, and and it seemed like no matter how hard she tried, she just could not control those children. And and she would ask the children to to do this, and they'd say, do it yourself. And finally, the school board decided if we're going to get any order out of this classroom, we're going to have to transfer dear old Mrs. So-and-so over here, and we're going to bring in old Mr. So-and-so, and he'll lay down the, he'll lay down the stick. And so they brought him in. The very first day of class, he went to the blackboard, and he began to write rule number one, thou shalt not steal. Rule number two, thou shalt not lie. Rule number, and he wrote ten laws, and then he said, if anyone breaks those rules, he says, see this stick, he says, you'll get a beating to within an inch of your life. Fill the wood box. Yes, yes, sir. And I mean, you think for a while all those kids got converted. Can I get two loads of wood for you? There were no spitballs in the air. There was no erasers flying through the air. There was no chalk being dropped or thrown. And everything seemed to be going really good until about two or three weeks into, into the time that he was there, and all of a sudden in the back of the room, someone raised their hand and he says, what is it? He said, sir, I, I hate to mention this to you, but I, I just passed by the lunchroom, and, and I'm sorry to report someone stole my lunch. And you could see the rage fill into the eyes of that teacher. He said, you mean to tell me someone broke the first rule? And he began to pace in front of that classroom like a caged lion. And to every single person in that classroom, he said, did you take the lunch? And they said, no. Did you take the lunch? And I mean, he began to press them. Did you take the lunch? And every kid said exactly what he did. No, n- not, not me. And he said, listen, no one will leave this room until we find out who took the lunch. And as he pressed them time and time again, finally, way back in the corner of the room, a little thin arm shot up. He says, what is it, Jimmy? Jimmy said, sir. He said, I took the lunch. The teacher said, Jimmy, you took the lunch?